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Carnot Cycle 3

The document describes the Carnot cycle and Carnot engine. It contains the following key points: 1. The Carnot cycle consists of four reversible processes: two isothermal and two adiabatic processes. It is the most efficient thermodynamic cycle possible. 2. A Carnot engine operates on the Carnot cycle and is the most efficient heat engine possible. It consists of two isothermal and two adiabatic processes. 3. The efficiency of a Carnot engine is defined as the ratio of net work output to heat input. It can be shown that the efficiency depends only on the temperatures of the heat source and heat sink.

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Tamo Jit
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220 views12 pages

Carnot Cycle 3

The document describes the Carnot cycle and Carnot engine. It contains the following key points: 1. The Carnot cycle consists of four reversible processes: two isothermal and two adiabatic processes. It is the most efficient thermodynamic cycle possible. 2. A Carnot engine operates on the Carnot cycle and is the most efficient heat engine possible. It consists of two isothermal and two adiabatic processes. 3. The efficiency of a Carnot engine is defined as the ratio of net work output to heat input. It can be shown that the efficiency depends only on the temperatures of the heat source and heat sink.

Uploaded by

Tamo Jit
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Carnot Cycle

and Carnot
Engine

Created by:
Aaruni Maity
Tamojit Das
Benazir Rahaman
Vikram Mahanta

Contents

Carnot Cycle

Carnot Engine

Efficiency of Carnot Engine

Points to remember (be warned!)

Applications of Carnot Cycle

Carnot Cycle
The Carnot cycle is the most efficient cycle possible. It
consists of four basic reversible processes meaning that the
cycle as a whole is also reversible. The four reversible
processes are:
1. A reversible isothermal gas expansion process. The ideal
gas in the system absorbs qin amount heat from a heat
source at a high temperature Th, expands and does work on
surroundings.
2. A reversible adiabatic gas expansion process. The system
is thermally insulated. The gas continues to expand and do
work on surroundings, which causes the system to cool to a
lower temperature, Tl.
3. A reversible isothermal gas compression process.
Surroundings do work to the gas at Tl, and causes a loss of
heat, qout.
4.A reversible adiabatic gas compression process. The
system is thermally insulated. Surroundings continue to do
work to the gas, which causes the temperature to rise back
to Th.

Carnot Engine

The Carnot Engine is the most


efficient heat engine possible
which operates on the Carnot
cycle, consisting of two isothermal
and two adiabatic processes. The
diagram given alongside shows a
general heat engine. A heat engine
is a device by which a system is
made to undergo a cyclic process
that results in conversion of heat
into work.

Carnot Engine
1. At first, the gas is kept in contact
with the source. The gas absorbs the
required amount of heat (Q1) from the
source through the conducting base of
the cylinder and it allowed to expand
from a(P1,V1,T1) to b(P2,V2,T2)by slow
outward movement or motion of the
piston and work (W1) is done on the
surroundings. Temperature remains
constant as heat is lost to the
surroundings. The volume increases
and pressure decreases. This is called
isothermal expansion. It is represented
by the curve ab in the indicator
diagram.

Carnot Engine
2. The system is removed from
the source and placed on perfectly
insulating pads. The gas is allowed
to expand from b(P2,V2,T1) to
c(P3,V3,T2). There is no exchange of
heat. Heat energy absorbed will be
utilised in expansion of the gas
adiabatically. The volume
increases and pressure decreases.
The temperature is decreased from
T1 to T2. This is called adiabatic
expansion. It is represented by the
curve bc in the indicator diagram.

Carnot Engine
3. The system is removed from the
insulating pads and placed on the
sink at a temperature T2. The piston of
the cylinder is moved downwards
slowly so that the gas is compressed
until its pressure is P4 and volume V4.
The excess heat produced due to
compression (Q2) will flow to the sink
so that the temperature of the gas
remains constant at T2. The volume
decreases and pressure increases.
This is called isothermal
compression. It is represented by the
curve cd in the indicator diagram.

Carnot Engine
4. The system is again placed on
insulating pads and the piston of
the cylinder is further moved
downwards that the gas is
compressed to its initial volume V1
and pressure P1. As the gas is
insulated from all sides, heat
produced raises the temperature
of the gas to T1. The volume
decreases and pressure increases.
The temperature increases from T2
to T1. This is called adiabatic
expansion. It is represented by the
curve da in the indicator diagram.

Efficiency of Carnot
Engine
It is defined as the ratio of net mechanical work done per cycle
by the gas to the amount of heat energy absorbed per cycle from
the source Q1.
We have the efficiency of heat engine, = W/Q1 where W is the
work done and Q1 is the amount of heat absorbed from the source.
Also, W = Q1 Q2 where Q2 is the amount of energy rejected to
sink. Therefore, = ( Q1 Q2)/Q1 = 1 (Q2/Q1). For a carnot engine,
it can be shown that = 1 (T2/T1) where T1 is the temperature of
source and T2 that of sink.

Points to Remember (be


warned!)

In a Carnot engine, the gas used is an ideal gas and the


dissipative forces are absent. It represents the ideal
situation and that is why its efficiency is maximum.
Carnot engine is purely an imaginary engine. But all
real engines are constructed based on the Carnot cycle.
No other engine can have same efficiency as that of a
Carnot engine working between the same temperature
range.

Applications of Carnot
Cycle

Heat engines: For a heat engine, the efficiency is the ratio of useful work performed to the heat energy
consumed from the high-temperature reservoir as already shown beforehand. This ratio is the interesting one
because we pay for the fuel to obtain Qh (notation for high temperature reservoir), in order to get the benefit of
the work done, W. For a Carnot engine, this is entirely determined by the temperatures of the hot and cold
reservoirs.
Refrigerators: For a Carnot machine functioning as a refrigerator, the "effectiveness" is the ratio of the energy
removed from the low-temperature reservoir to the work required to force the machine around its cycle (the
energy consumed and paid for). The effectiveness of a refrigerator is sometimes called the coefficient of
performance ("COP"). The effectiveness will be greater than 1 only if the absolute temperature of the cold
reservoir is warmer than half that of the hot reservoir. We can see that refrigeration to extremely cold
temperatures is very difficult.
Heat Pumps: For a Carnot machine functioning as a heat pump, the "effectiveness" is the ratio of the energy
delivered to the high-temperature reservoir to the work required to force the machine around its cycle (the
energy consumed and paid for). The effectiveness of a heat pump is sometimes called the performance factor
("PF"). For heat pumps, the effectiveness is always greater than 1.

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